The Hierarchy
by Volfinator
Summary: There's one thing I want if my pack joins the order. I want Granger. Dramione, Warfic, lemons, Death. Hermione knows she has to strike a bargain with Draco to win the war but she wasn't expecting this. She also wasn't expecting to drag Luna along for the ride.
1. Hermiones Idea

Blood droplets slowly snaking down windows, limbs morphing in unspeakable ways, sharp jagged jaws glinting in the darkness, Ginny weasley lying at the bottom of the stairs to the astronomy tower, her body broken and bathed in blood. These were the things Hermione dreamt of. The pain, fear, disgust, she lived through it each and every night. It tended to desensitise her to the happenings of the day now. When members of the Order were rushed in for healing, or their lifeless bodies were collected from battlefields and brought back to head quarters for a final goodbye, Hermione felt nothing. She was usually tasked with handling the bodies and injuries because she was emotionally able to. Harry, Ron and even some of the adults could not without fear of having an emotional breakdown. This was what the war was like. This is what Hermiones life was like.

Never in her life had she felt this useless. There was no solution, they were slowly failing. Harry would be ready to face Voldemort himself soon and they wouldn't have the numbers to protect Harry from the hundreds of death eaters. They weren't able to secure help from the Giants who had joined Voldemort, or from the Vampires who had chosen to stay impartial. Hermione scoffed at the idea, they obviously didn't realise that Voldemort was after everybody not just muggleborns.

Hermione felt personally responsible for not coming up with a solution yet. Everybody reminded her it wasn't her job but rather the adults jobs to figure out a solution to swell their ranks. However, Hermione was still dissapointed in herself. She had always somehow come up with an idea or solution to every problem she had come across with Harry and Ron over the years so why was her brain failing her now?

Feeling quite despondent she would hide in her room most of the day. She missed spending time with Ron and Harry but they both reminded her of Ginny and that was the one memory she'd rather keep locked away. She felt as though if she lingered on it then she'd finally break down and all her emotions would come flooding back which was not practical in the face of war. She would have time to mourn Ginny later. Hopefully.

She was lying on her little lumpy, single mattress on the floor of the room she shared with Luna. Luna, despite circumstances, still managed to exude her strange and wistful aura that alleviated Hermiones dark emotions. They had all been issued small square rooms that just fit 2 single mattresses and one cabinet in between them on the floor. She still didn't know where they were, but the less people that knew the better. It seemed to be some kind of renovated warehouse space, though it looked like the many surrounding abandoned warehouses from the outside. Hermione and Luna were on the third level in one of 12 rooms on that level.

Hermione was still contemplating her fustration when Luna entered. She fell down onto her mattress with a pair of scissors in hand. Hermione sat up and watched Luna quizzically as she laid the scissors on the floor and pulled out a comb and a spray bottle from the pockets of her loose denim overalls. Hermione had placed undetectable extension charms on everyones pockets because it would be useful in a suprise attack to have everyone carry at least one weapon in their pockets at all times.

Luna finally finished lining up the items in the small space between the matresses and smiled at Hermione. "Will you cut my hair?" She asked Hermioned brightly, like it wasn't a random request at all. Hermione blinked slowly at Luna.

"You want _me,_ Know-it-all-bookworm who dosen't have a girly bone in my body, to cut _your_ hair?" Hermione responded.

"Yes, and you're being silly. I want it a bit shorter so it dosen't swing in my face when I'm in battle," she answered as if it was obvious. Hermione eyed Luna's gorgeous, albeit slightly dirty, white blonde wavy locks. It was a bit hard to keep their hygiene up to par with the limited resources they had but they made do. She met Luna's eyes uncertainly but Luna just smiled and turned around so her back was facing Hermione.

"Ah, okay then," Hermione mumbled. She knew theoretically how to cut hair since she'd always studied the hairdressers that used to do her mothers hair. She picked up the Water bottle and sprayed Luna's hair until it was sufficiently damp, then she combed through it with the comb until it was straight. She asked Luna how short she wanted it and Luna indicated that she wanted her hair to be styled like a pixie cut, very short and out of her face. Hermione almost didn't want to do it because it was just so much gorgeous hair wasted but she did as asked of her.

Luna sat patiently as all her hair fell in the space between the two matresses. In the end she looked possibly more beautiful than before. Not because of Hermiones skills, because her hair was not even or perfect or styled nicely. It was because Hermione could see her face clearly for the first time and Lunas defined cheekbones and strong jaw was uncovered from all the heavy locks that used to cover it. Luna asked Hermione if she wanted the favour returned and Hermione told her she'd think about it.

Suddenly there was a commotion on the ground level that could be heard all the way from their room. Luna frowned, hoping everyone was okay with her usual unhurried and calm manner. Hermione just rolled her eyes and indicted they should go help since they were designated Order healers by now, since they knew the most healing spells and were the most unaffected by the injuries.

Hermione and Luna walked briskly down the stairs and were met with two bloodied Order members who were still breathing, and one who wasn't. The crew that had brought them in were quick to throw a sheet over the dead member and rush back out to battle. Hermione and Luna grabbed an injured member each and went to work slowly assesing their organs and bones, administering potions and peforming what spells they could to fix the injuries. After Hermione finished cleaning the copious amounts of blood off her patient and finished healing the tears in his back she rolled him over and realised it was Remus.

She placed pain medication on all his bandaging and waited the ten minutes it would take to enter his system before using renervate on him. His eyes fluttered open and the second he saw Hermione he started to sit up but Hermione shoved him back down and in his weakened state he couldn't really argue.

"So what happened with you? I thought you were with Greybacks pack?" She asked confused, she hadn't seen Remus since he'd gone undercover months ago.

"Not Greybacks pack anymore," he managed to rasp out. Hermione was even more confused. What was that supposed to mean? Seeing her expression Remus decided to try and explain further.

"Draco Alpha now, Greyback dead, Draco not with Voldemort so new assignment," he croaked out.

Hermione sat down to process the information as Remus slowly drifted back to sleep. Draco had somehow become a werewolf, she didn't even want to know why or how. But he had also overpowered Greyback who was high up in the death eaters ranks, killed him and became Alpha of the largest pack in Britain, and then decides to do nothing with all his newfound power? She knew that couldn't be right. Draco always had a motive and she would figure out what he wanted in order to protect everyone. It made sense that Remus was being assigned a new mission since Draco was much smarter than Greyback and would have aesn right therough him. Probably accounting for Remus' injuries.

She decided to go have a wash to get all the blood off of her. She signaled to Luna where she was going and then headed back up the stairs to their level. She went into the little tiled room at the end of the hallway and filled the empty bucket in the corner with water. She undressed and placed her clothes on the one rack on the wall. She grabbed the bucket and tipped the cold water over herself. All the brown and red water traveled down the drain in the center of the floor. She cleaned her clothes magically dried them and herself and shrugged them back on. She had been wearing the same khaki cargo pants and white tank top for the past month, alternating with her pair of jeans and black tshirt which were the only other two things she owned.

She left her hair damp. It hung down to her waist now and that bothered her for some reason. She felt that this girl she looked at in the metal mirror that hung in the makeshift bathroom was not the girl that she felt she was. She looked so innocent and young with her long ringlets that swayed around her body and her unmarked skin. She felt like so much had changed. She was not this soft, caring girl anymore. She was hardend and crueler due to the war. She frowned at herself before walking back to the room. She noticed Luna already inside and sat on her matress before clearing her throat which got Lunas attention.

"Will you cut my hair?" she asked Luna with a determined voice. Luna smiled and nodded. Hermione turned around and indicated where she wanted her hair cut too. Luna complied to the best of her ability. Hermione then transfigured the scissors into a shaver and handed it back to Luna. The feeling of Lunas fingers raking through her hair was almost comforting.

When Luna was done she transfigured the comb into a mirror and handed it to Hermione. Hermione took one glance and felt a small smile pull at her lips. This felt like her. She had shoulder length curls on one side of her side part and the other side was shaven down to a buzz cut. "I rather like the edgy look on you Mione," Luna mumbled dreamily, Hermione smiled and thanked her before cleaning her hair off the floor and lying down.

Hermiones mind felt clear for the first time in ages. She felt lighter and more like her true self. She thought maybe now she felt a bit better she would have more luck on finding a solution to the Orders problem but no matter how hard she tried to concentrate her mind kept wandering back to Draco. She felt like there was a missing piece she wasn't linking.

She thought of what Draco could possibly want with a pack that huge if he wasn't going to join Voldemort or the Order. She turned towards Luna. The girl might have her quirks but she wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw for nothing. She explained the situation to Luna who went quiet trying to ponder what he might want.

"I just dont understand what the point was of acquiring all that power if he isn't using it to power his own agenda in this war," Hermione wondered out loud.

"Did he actually ever do or say anything that indicated he didn't want to join forces with the Order?" Luna asked quietly.

Hermione went to scoff at the idea when it suddenly occured to her that he hadn't. He hadn't come looking for help, but he also hadn't declared he was averse to it. "Oh My God," Hermione breathed.

"He's waiting for us to make an offer. He wants something and he can only get it from us which is why he hasn't joined with Voldemort or tried to go against him alone. we have something he wants," she muttered.

"If anyone will figure it out, it's you Mione," Luna murmured before falling asleep.

Hermione kept musing over the idea in her head until she fell asleep. She vowed that she would find out what it is he wanted and find a way to secure it so that Draco would fill out their ranks. It was perfect really, she just had to talk to him.

 **Review and let me know what you think :)**


	2. Preparing wishes

Hermione rolled her eyes for what felt like the 10th time within the hour. She was trying to convince Kingsley to let her talk to Draco, but of course he was concerned about the safety risks and what not. She was sure if Harry had offered he wouldn't have faced this much discouragement.

"Kingsley, as much as I appreciate your concern for my well being, I don't appreciate being seen as unable to defend myself. Who do you think teaches Harry all his technique and defensive spells? I'm not sure if it's because I'm muggleborn or because I'm a female but it's really bugging me that everyone around here sees me as some fragile being. I can relate to Malfoy, he wont feel threatened by me because I'm just a muggleborn, and I'm excellent at reading him," She ranted, slowly getting louder until she was just short of yelling out her fustration. She knew the mention of her upbringing and gender would sway Kingsley into letting her go because he wouldn't want to be seen as biased.

His gaze flickered to her left arm where she still had mudblood etched into her skin. She refused to acknowledge the scar on her arm and he sighed heavily before running his hands over his face. "Ok Hermione fine, but you will have backup and the second something goes wrong you send up red sparks and they will swoop in, understand?"

"Yeah okay, " she answered distractedly.

Kingsley wrote up her mission and put it up on the board of the meeting room for the order, with a space for people to apply to be backup. She knew it was likely there wouldn't be many volunteers any way considering the point of the trip was to convince Draco to side with them by giving him whatever he wanted, and she knew not many people in the order would enjoy that sort of trip. Harry and Ron still wanted to skin him alive after what happened to her in his home. Only she knew that he had looked at her with the utmost empathy and helplessness when she had been carved into. He had mouthed something to her in those moments. She had been looking to him desperately while in the worst pain she had ever expeeienced and she remembered him mouthing "I'm so sorry," to her from behind his father. It was that act that had allowed her to hold on and not give up. It had shocked her that much that she had been able to ignore Bellatrix for a short time. It was what had allowed her to hold onto her sanity for just a tiny bit longer so that Dobby could rescue them.

Hermione left Kingsley with a few papers on Draco Malfoy documenting everything they knew about him and how he became Alpha, as well as his routine and any noteworthy behavior.

She met Luna at her room and they headed to the main meal area together. The meal area was a large room with high ceilings and a kitchen much like a cafeterias with the long bench of food running along the outside of the kitchen where people were lined up to load their plates with food before sitting down at a table.

Hermione and Luna both filled their plates and received an extra bread roll each from Mrs Weasely who always cooked with whoever volunteered to help her that day. They sat down and Hermione spread the papers about Draco Malfoy between them and they got down to business. Luna helped by pointing out bits of information that may be useful in an encounter with Draco that Hermione would not even have thought of.

"So he became a werewolf as a punishment for his father's mistakes?" Hermione asked herself out loud. She thought back to the Draco she had always known. Despite being a bit spoilt and prone to tantrums, Draco had always possessed a formidable air of power about him. She would have thought twice about trying to degrade Draco for she did not underestimate him. He was second in almost everything only to her, which meant he was a force to be reckoned with. She couldn't believe that Voldemort had been so stupid. He should have known that by turning Draco into a werewolf that he would assume leadership almost immediately and turn against him. Then again maybe she was able to predict his decisions so well because she knew him so well. They had been enemies in school which meant she had spent a lot of time studying him.

"Hermione?" Luna questioned whilst still reading something.

"Yes? " Hermione replied, snapping back into her focused state.

"It says here that Draco's pack only has two females in it," Luna trailed off tapping her chin with her finger, obviously deep in thought, "that can't be right can it? His pack has around 20 members in it at last check in, " she looked up at Hermione at the end of her sentence questiongly. Hermione thought it through quietly. It would make sense, female werewolves were rarer as they needed to be strong of mind to live through the transformation. Males would live through the transformation regardless but for some reason there were more requirements of a women if she wanted to survive the transformation.

"I think that's right Luna. Remember that the pack was originally Voldemort's and that females have to be of sound and strong mind to survive the transformation. The females in the pack were part of the pack before they were forced into Voldemort's rule by Grey back. I doubt Voldemort had a lot of strong, intelligent women lying around that he could turn into werewolves. Draco killed all the men that actually supported Voldemort so now the pack is solely loyal to him. " Hermione replied with the notes she had read about the pack.

"Hermione, I know this might sound a bit... savage or cold hearted, but maybe you could offer a trade?" Luna spoke slowly and carefully, looking Hermione in the eye meaningfully.

Hermione blanched momentarily. Luna was insinuating she offer Draco women to join his pack for his assistance. In theory it was an excellent idea. Once part of a pack, werewolves wanted only what was best for their pack. An offer such as this would be hard for Draco to ignore.

"I'll keep it as a last resort, " she responded calmly. Luna nodded seriously before commenting something about wrackspurts swarming Hermione again. She had taken to partially ignoring Luna's odd comments about imaginary creatures.

" A gathering like this could mean you're about to find true love or that something unpleasant is heading your way, " Luna commented on the apparent wrackspurt gathering.

Hermione snorted at the total opposites Luna had just presented her with. Only Luna would fail to notice how contradictory her statement had been.

Hermione had just settled in to read more of her notes when she heard Luna utter "oh no, definitely the second one, " quietly.

Hermione glanced up at her only to realise Luna was looking past her. She turned to look at whatever Luna was looking at and spotted Harry and Ron barreling towards her, red in the face with their hands clenched. Hermione sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes before turning her whole body to face them, crossing her arms in front of her self and waiting for their outburst.

"Draco?! Really?" Ron exclaimed when he reached her.

"What were you thinking?" hissed Harry angrily.

"He doesn't deserve our help and he's a death eater Hermione, you aren't to go anywhere near him, " Ron spat venomously whilst pointing a finger at her threateningly.

"Absolutely not, he's filth and he will kill you, " Harry agreed with Ron.

Hermione stood slowly. She turned her glare on Ron and then Harry who she saw twitch in discomfort. "Well thank God I don't need your permission. I'm perfectly capable of handling Draco but thank you for showing me that you have every confidence in me completing my task. And for your Information Harry Potter I was _thinking_ that this would give us the numbers we need so that _you_ can defeat the dark lord. I don't see anyone else here coming up with any other solutions so shut it and stop acting like petulant children," she snapped dangerously, her magic making her hair rise slightly in anger.

With that she turned on her heel and stalked away.

Before she was out of ear shot she heard Luna inform them that Hermione had made sure neither of them could accompany her on the mission and Kingsley had approved since they were much too prone to acting without thinking due to them being emotionally driven.

She smirked to herself before heading out the doors and up to her room. Her mission started tomorrow, she was to head out with whoever had signed up by then. They would trek through the forbidden forest and search for Draco's pack. There was a specific way one had to request a meeting with the Alpha which she would comply with.

Hopefully everything went smoothly. She knew Luna at least would be coming which have her a sense of comfort. Luna had become something of an advisor to her. She always double checked things with Luna now days as she genuinely liked the girl and she felt she was underestimated. Luna was very wise for her age. Regardless of the child like air about her, Luna gave invaluable advice and knew exactly what to do or say to put Hermione at ease. She would be a great asset in tomorrow's mission.

Luna joined her in the room a few hours after the whole debacle with the boys and she had her sketchbook and pencils with her. Luna's pencils scratching on her sketchbook as she drew all the imaginary creatures she supposedly saw as well as ordinary everyday objects, was one of the most comforting sounds for Hermione now.

"Do you really think that theres nothing else we could offer Malfoy? " Hermione asked curiously, wanting to bounce her ideas off of Luna.

Luna tapped the pencil she was using against her lips as she looked up in thought. "Not necessarily the only thing we could offer, but definitely the one offer we know he couldn't refuse. My opinion is that we should offer him all the other deals we can think of before suggesting that. But at least we can sleep easy knowing we have a guaranteed way of getting him on our side if nothing else works,".

Hermione agreed that at least she could relax her mind a bit knowing that at the end of the day she had a sure fire way of winning Draco's packs cooperation. She wondered how she would even execute that deal if it came to it. Would they ask for volunteers or would random women fighting the cause be chosen to submit? The feeling made her sick but she also knew that if it came to it then she didn't have a choice. In that circumstance it would be the only way and lately Hermione had become a 'win by any means possible' type of girl. So she did was she had been doing for months now and swallowed any guilt or morals that she felt to deal with after the war was over. If it was ever over.

The next morning she woke earlier than necessary so that she could read over all the ideas her and Luna had written down last night for the meeting with Draco. They would attempt to offer protection, especially for the females of the pack. They would also try offering supplies and even promising revisions to werewolf laws if they won the war. Hermione had a sinking feeling in her stomach that none of these options would be accepted as enough for the sacrifices they would be asking of the werewolves but she had to give it a try.

She went through her normal routine of washing her hair and then her body more thoroughly then usual. She always did this before a mission as you never knew what could happen. You could be stuck with no facilities for a while if something went wrong so she always made sure she was clean and had eaten as much as she possibly could. She also had transfigured her beaded bag from the wedding that seemed so long ago into a small utility bag that clipped around her waist, on top of her cargo pants. She packed some extra food, a change of clothes, books and weapons into her tiny bag with the undetectable extension charm on it. She felt a small genuine smile tug at the corner of her lips when she thought of Harry and Ron's faces that night that they had fled from the wedding and she had been pulling whole outfits out of a bag the same size as her palm in a dingy alley of London.

She decided to practice some of her suggestions on Luna on her way to the meeting room. Luna trailed along next to her in a white singlet and Khaki colored shorts that reached just above her knees. Luna smiled and assured Hermione that she had the delivery down perfectly and to remember that Dracos arrogant and cruel demeanour might throw her off but she needed to keep eye contact and her chin raised to establish some kind of dominance or else he wouldn't acknowledge her as being of importance. She silently thanked the lords that Luna was so well versed in how to deal with magical creatures.

When she entered the meeting room she was not surprised at the small amount of volunteers. Her eyes swept over everyone taking them in one by one and assessing whether they would aid or hinder her in her mission. Hermione didn't think she'd really need any help but she was still prepared to throw anyone out who she felt would not cooperate with her instructions. There was Theo Nott, Alicia Spinnet, Parvati Patil, Michael Corner, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan, Anthony Goldstein and George Weasley.

Hermione paused at the red haired troublemaker who only gave her a very fake innocent smile. She rolled her eyes but was secretly glad she would have another person she trusted on the mission. Not to mention he made her laugh, especially when she was anxious.

"Alright everyone buddy up," Hermione announced to the room, she glanced down at her clipboard before speaking again, "looks like we are going to the Forbidden Forrest, " she declared with a slight grimace. She saw some of the girls shudder and the boys frowned. One by one they paired up and apparated to Hogsmead. Finally Hermione and Luna were the last two people. They clasped hands and just as Hermione whispered "I hope this works," Luna whispered "It will all work out, ".

They shared one last look between them before they too apparated to Hogsmead.


	3. The Fox and the Hound

After everyone arrived in Hogsmead they set off towards the shrieking shack under disillusionment charms. Hermione directed everyone through the secret passage way onto Hogwarts property. They couldn't just go through the the front gates since Voldemort had taken over at the school. Only _purebloods_ attended now and most of the good ones left to join the Order so if they got caught they would probably be tortured and killed. They made their way as quickly as possible to the Forest. Everyone was eager to get away from the depressing building that used to be their home. Now the place once so full of light and laughter was only full of pain and sadness. It crept over the grounds too. The despair curled over the grounds like invisible fog, making its way over Hagrids old hut and the Herbology green houses, all the way into the Forest.

They removed the disillusionment charm after they were about 15 minutes into the forest. They were attempting to be as quiet and as stealthy as possible so that they didn't attract any unwanted attention from whatever else may be lurking in the forest.

Hermione could see her breath coming out in white fog from her lips and suddenly realised how cold it was. She kept her arms close to her body in an attempt to preserve the heat at her core and she lead the group with Luna by her side. They reached the area marked for them by the order members who had been tasked previously with watching the pack.

"Okay team I have here a list of where I want everyone situated and a list of what different colours mean if I shoot them into the air. Basically Luna and myself will approach the Pack slowly and submissively, requesting to meet with their Alpha. You will all circle the pack in a loose circle. Your job is not to box them in but to be far away so as not to be noticed and perceived as a threat. I want you just close enough to be able to see the sparks in case I do need aid okay? " Hermione asked in an authorative voice. Everyone nodded, the girls looked slightly relieved whilst the boys looked a bit worried at the thought of Luna and herself walking in alone.

She nodded her head and turned to Luna. "You ready? " She asked her.

"Oh yes I've always wanted to see a werewolf packs home camp and to experience the pack setting," She responded in her typical carefree attitude. Hermione smiled slightly before beginning the walk with Luna towards the Camp. The others all dispersed, going to where Hermione had specified for them to go on the little maps she handed out. When Hermione turned, George gave her a meaningful look which she took to mean _be careful_ , he then winked at her before slinking away into the trees.

"Hermione?" Luna asked softly.

"Yes? " Hermione asked distractedly as she carefully picked her way around logs and roots.

"You know if we have to exchange like we said we would as a last resort... I would be willing to sacrifice myself," she said calmly but quietly to Hermione who looked up sharply at her declaration and meeting her eyes in an intense form of communication.

She hesitated for a minute before she recognised the determination in Luna's eyes. She knew better than to doubt Luna just because she was a woman or young, Luna was not by any means fragile and she knew Luna would do more than survive the transformation. "Okay," she replied softly, with a caring emotion behind it that she reserved only for her friend.

Luna give her a small smile and continued onwards towards the camp. Luna declaration raced through her mind. The full meaning behind what Luna had just said was sinking in. She was making it easier for Hermione if it did come to that offer. She must have known that Hermione struggled with the idea of asking any female order members to join Draco's pack. She also understood what Luna was implying. Becoming a werewolf was a small price to pay to end this war and be able to finally have a life. Hermione would choose becoming a werewolf over dying and failing any day.

Did this mean that Luna also thought that it would indeed come to that offer in order to sway Draco onto their side? Hermione mulled this over whilst her feet automatically kept moving towards the camp. Before she knew it, she could smell the smoke from the bonfire at the camps centre. She could see the smoke rising from amongst the trees into the darkening sky. Approximately 100 metres from the bonfire they came across some werewolves who were obviously supposed to be guarding the edges of the packs perimeter.

"Hello? " She attempted to greet them before they were noticed so as not to scare the werewolves. They both spun towards her, one male and one female. They stared at her and Luna who had both bowed slightly and looked down towards the ground so as not to appear as a threat.

She was about to start voicing her request which she had repeated numerous times to Luna in order to get it right. Before she could begin however she heard a gasp from one of the werewolves and felt one of them approach them, coming right up to her and Luna. Her body was screaming at her to run and her mind screamed at her to keep absolutely still and wait. She held her breath and tensed every muscle to breaking point.

She tries to focus on something that would help her not panic and found herself focusing on the werewolves feet. She noticed a small white and silver anklet around the foot and for some reason she knew she had seen it before. It sent such a strong sense of familiarity through her but she couldn't pinpoint where she had seen it.

"Hermione? Luna? " the voice asked in surprise. Hermione glanced at Luna who looked just as confused before she chanced a glance up and saw Lavender Brown looking at them with clear shock.

Hermione's eyes widened of their own accord. " _Lavender? "_ She questioned suprised. Well this changed everything.

She looked at Luna and seemed to convey her question with her eyes. _What are we going to do now?_ Luna shrugged and turned towards Lavender, straightening her stance but still keeping her head bowed slightly. Hermione adjusted her posture to match.

"Lavender we would like to speak with your Alpha if that's okay? " Luna requested in her calming voice.

Lavender looked between the both of them, clearly still in shock and still trying to register Luna's words. "My... alpha... what? " She repeated, still constantly looking between the two of them.

"Your Alpha, Malfoy? " Hermione reminded her gently. Luna gave her a small glance that Hermione had just enough time to register as panic before the male werewolf made him self known after having stood back looking suspiciously between the two of them and then back to Lavender with a confused expression.

"You will not address him as anything other than Alpha! " He demanded loudly of her. Hermione, ever the stubborn one, almost retaliated but caught sight of Luna's pleading look and literally bit her tongue to stop herself. She merely nodded and looked down again. Lavender finally collected herself.

"My Alpha, yes... of course. I'll ask him if he will see you. Stay here please," she managed to finally get out after physically shaking her head as if she was trying to shake the shock away. She turned towards the man and touched him lightly on his bicep with her fingers in an intimate brush. "It's okay Owen, " she gave him a small smile before looking back at them and nodding and then turning and walking towards the centre of the camp that was surrounded by the ring of trees.

Owen glowered at them before returning to his original post a few meters from them, facing the forest. He would glance at them sporadically in suspicion before focusing again on the surrounding forest. Hermione turned to Luna immediately to discuss what they would do at such a turn of events.

Luna sighed heavily still facing the camp. "This is it Hermione." She turned her head slightly to meet Hermiones eyes. "We could end the war with this discussion," Luna spoke clearly but the words she spoke were heavy with tension. She didn't bother whispering as both girls knew Owen was earsdropping on their conversation with his bat like hearing that all werewolves were gifted with. Hermione felt butterflies in her stomach at Luna's words but she had long since learnt not to display her anxiety so obviously and so she set her jaw in a determined clench and nodded at Luna.

Luna's eyes darted back towards the camp and Hermione followed her line of vision to see Lavender making her way back towards them.

They waited patiently until Lavender was within a metre of the girls again. "He wishes to speak to Hermione alone," she spoke in a formal voice. Hermione had to physically restrain her eyes from rolling.

"Luna comes or I leave," Hermione stated calmly but boldly, with a no nonsense tone. Lavender smirked slightly at this.

"I told him you would insist on bringing Luna and so he said that you can bring Luna if you get the rest of the wizards circling the pack to leave," Lavender offered with raised eyebrows, clearly amused by her old school friend.

Hermione had, of course predicted this and Lavender was well aware of that. It was mostly just getting the formalities out of the way, so to speak. "Fine, I'll agree to that. Bloody Paravati has been on my nerves all day," Hermione stated gruffly before shooting a series of colored flashes into the sky. Hermione witnessed a wistful almost sad expression flit across Lavenders face at the mention of her old best friend before her face fell into a mask of indifference.

"This way then," Lavender gestured to a well worn path and then took the lead, marching them through the camp. Hermione and Luna tried to discreetly glance around and size up if there was anything else they could offer Draco in exchange for his help. What Hermione witnessed was more of a community than a 'camp'. It looked like there was clear designated zones for different trades and it looked like everyone had a job to complete. There were a staggering amount of men though. It was really all Hermione could register. This was probably in part because majority of them were staring at her and Luna like they hadn't seen a woman in a long time. They had supplies and honestly Hermione had to admit to herself that they didn't seem to be struggling, they seemed to be flourishing.

Lavender lead them to a large structure that loosely resembled a house but was built with the same materials as a tent. The structure, like most of the structures in the camp, was constructed from earthy tones to blend in with the wilderness. It was still quite large and from what Hermione could spy through a flap-like opening, it had walls and normal household supplies inside.

Lavender stopped outside the structure and gestured towards the opening. Hermione and Luna interpreted this as being as far as Lavender would lead them and stepped around her and inside the opening. Hermione glanced at Lavender over her shoulder and received a small tender smile from the girl. Lavender eye's flashed with excitement, a look Hermione had grown accustomed to from Lavenders stories she would share in the dormitory over the years they had spent together at Hogwarts. Lavender then tipped her head as if saying goodbye and then walked away back towards the forest. They made their way through what seemed to be a small sitting room complete with bookshelf and coffee table and stepped through another opening that resembled an archway.

They found themselves in a room lavishly decked out with rugs, bookshelves along the walls filled to the brim with books Hermione had never seen before, scrolls of parchment everywhere, and behind a huge desk sat Draco Malfoy.

Hermione did not instantly recognise him as his once impeccable appearance was now gone and in its place sat a much more mature looking man. Draco looked like he had been to hell and back. He had a dark and slightly protruding scar thant marred the front of his neck and seeped under the collar of his shirt. He looked slightly disheveled but not in a dirty way, in a way that communicated he was a busy man and was in charge of a lot more responsibility than Hermione had originally anticipated. He also seemed stockier in build and less arrogant with the way he carried himself.

She honestly felt slightly attracted to him and that scared her. She broke her stare off with Draco to glance at Luna whose eyes were freely roaming the books in the room, almost all that seemed to be about werewolves.

She turned her attention back to Draco who raised his eyebrows and lips into a smirk and gestured for her and Luna to come closer. She obliged, reaching a hand out to drag Luna along. Closer up she could see the way his once sleeked back platinum blonde hair, was now falling forwards into his grey eyes so carelessly, now a dirty blonde color. It matched the stubble that grew around his face and his whole appearance gave an air of authority and age that Hermione had not been prepared to deal with.

Draco looked silently from Luna to Hermione. He assessed Hermione appraisingly before finally speaking.

"So the order has finally come to me for help, huh?" Hermione raised her eyebrows at his attitude. "About time."


	4. Taken by Surprise

**Sorry for the delay, life's been a bit hectic lately. Here's another chapter** **Remember to Review and whatnot :)** **Disclaimer: I obviously don't own anything except this plot. ;)**

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Luna giggled. Hermione turned her face to Luna with an astonished expression. "What?" Luna asked, "It's funny," she smiled at Hermione teasingly Hermione rolled her eyes in response. She turned back to Malfoy.

"You seem as cocky as ever Malfoy," Hermione retorted, letting her eyes drift around the space to give the impression that he didn't intimidate her. She heard Draco chuckle, his voice sounded slightly different now, huskier. It made the hairs on the back of Hermione's neck stand up.

"You've changed Hermione, I can see that you aren't so righteous anymore. Especially if you are here to beg for help from a werewolf," Malfoy spoke with his usual teasing nature, but Hermione detected hesitancy in his voice. She knew Malfoy well enough to know that he wasn't sure what to make of her or what she made of him, so he was testing the waters. She had no prejudice towards werewolves, so she was not baited by his words, however the implication that the order was helpless rubbed Hermione the wrong way. There were many issues with the order, but they were hers and, in many ways, she held leadership roles within the order. Hermione didn't beg. _Ever_.

"Malfoy, I have no issues with werewolves". _However, I am not here to beg for anything_ _she thought to herself_. She turned her gaze towards his sharply, making intense eye contact as Luna had instructed, "I have come to offer you help and hopefully come to a mutual agreement as we have a common enemy that I'm sure you are aware of," she spoke with a steady voice that spoke of maturity. She too had grown up since she last saw him.

"Ah yes," Malfoy responded with a wistful smile, "good old _moldywart_ " Malfoy replied. Hermione didn't let the surprise that he used one of the twin's nicknames for Voldemort show on her face.

"It makes sense to band together to defeat him, so I don't see why we should delay it or resist it any longer," Hermione stated boldly. She was trying her luck here and she knew it. Malfoy must know that they had much more to gain than him from this alliance. He gave her a long considering look.

"I think we both know I need a bit more than that to sway me into this mutual agreement," he used her terminology whilst using his fingers to mimic quotation marks around her words.

"Okay well we can share our supplies with you or guard another, safer forest for you to use and we could also get you _wands_ ," Hermione tried, her heart beating hard in her chest while she kept a calm and collected mask over her face. She was hooked on every breathe he took whilst considering her offer, hoping against all hopes that he would just accept. She lifted her chin slightly and she saw him refocus he gaze back on her thoughtfully.

"We could use _wands_ ," he said finally with a longing emotion colouring his voice. Hermione was honestly a bit shocked that he hadn't made fun of her offer or degrade her during the process. She analysed him again and found the signs of defeat apparent on his face as he thought her proposal over more. It was obvious that he cared of these people and knew how drastically easier life would be if he accepted this bargain for his people. Hermione was really seeing a different side of him today.

This wasn't any easy decision to make. Hermione knew he would struggle because, although he was a werewolf, he was still a wizard as well. He knew that he would be required to make a blood oath to confirm that if The Order provided wands to the pack, that he would lead the pack into battle with The Order, regardless of whether it was best for his pack or not. An Alpha always had the underlying desire for what was best for his pack so naturally there would be a conflict within himself.

Since Malfoy wasn't looking at her anymore, but rather down at his hands lost in thought, Hermione chanced a look at Luna. Where she felt confident with this offer due to Malfoy's reaction so far, Luna did not look as confident. Luna looked as she had when they had first walked in, hopeful but fearful.

"I will have to discuss this matter with the _council_ ," Malfoy suddenly exclaimed in a relenting voice. As if it was the last thing he wanted to do. "It is not that I don't want to strike a bargain, it's that they may not agree on the conditions. Some of the werewolves in this pack are old and believe that, although wands would be useful, they are not a priority compared to other things that need to be done to keep the pack safe," he explained.

"Wait I've never heard of a council within werewolf packs before," Luna questioned in a puzzled voice. Draco offered her what Hermione thought might be a genuine smile.

"Well I'm not a typical Alpha, now am I?" Draco responded. "I believe in equality and everyone having a voice in decisions that drastically impact the pack."

Luna seemed to take his answer well and just nodded. "Shall we attend this council meeting Alpha?" Luna asked politely. Draco gave Luna a delightfully surprised look. Hermione took this to mean that Draco hadn't realised Luna was so well versed with werewolf laws and as such was impressed by her. Hermione felt the energy in the room shift as Draco suddenly recognised her as someone much wiser and more important than he initially thought.

"I see why you brought her," he spoke to Hermione but kept his eyes on Luna, "You both may come Luna," he spoke now to Luna, as he rose from his desk and gave her a pat on his way past them. He advised them to stay put before heading out of the room. Hermione could only guess he was rounding up the council members.

Hermione sat down on a chair with Luna and they bent their heads together to talk strategy for the council meeting. It was hard to really finalise what they would do or say as they weren't sure how the meeting would go. Would they be allowed to talk? Would they have to ask permission to talk? Would they even need to? Maybe the other council members would understand how important wands would be to the pack.

Soon Lavender entered the room and gestured for them to follow her. They followed her out of the building. The sky had grown dark and Hermione suddenly realised they had been here for longer than she thought. Kingsley would start to worry. The last thing she wanted was a group of the order bursting through the trees and ruining everything. It wasn't that they were incompetent, just that they were impulsive and didn't understand the sensitivity of the mission.

"Lavender we will have to leave soon or send notice to the order to let them know we are okay, or they might react… well impulsively," she emphasised the last part of her sentence in order to convey her meaning. Lavender gave her a knowing look and nodded. They followed Lavender around to the back of the camp where there was a fire pit with a roaring fire going, set up in the middle of a circle of benches. Lavender gestured for them to stand near the fire in the middle of the benches. Hermione counted around 7 people seated around the fire, all men. When Hermione and Luna took their places, standing in the middle of the circle so all could see them, Lavender took her place upon a bench. Hermione was grateful there would be at least one female amongst the council. The positioning for Hermione and Luna was awkward because in order to face Malfoy they had their backs to half of the council and all members were murmuring just out of earshot. However, Hermione ignored her willingness to survey the whole circle as she knew keeping her head and eyes in the Alpha's direction was the sign of utmost respect. Luna followed Hermione's lead, shaking of the uncomfortable feeling of all the eyes on her back.

Before anyone else spoke Lavender announced that Hermione could send a message to Kingsley, so Hermione conjured a Patronus much to the delight of the council members who watched in surprise as she conveyed with her mind what message she wanted her Patronus to carry. She didn't want the werewolves to hear what she was relaying to Kingsley. When she was done she straightened up and returned to her usual demanding posture. Malfoy cleared his throat to convey the meeting was in order and Hermione watched as every other council member fell silent and gave their complete attention to Malfoy. Hermione was struck by how much respect Malfoy received compared to when they were in school.

"We are here today to discuss a matter involving the order. They come to us offering to band forces, so we can destroy a common enemy. An offer has been made by their advocate Hermione Granger and I must admit it is tempting. I have called you all here to hear your concerns and your opinions on the deal for as you know your Alpha cares not only about what is good for the packs safety but also what is best for your happiness." Draco spoke with an authorative and warm voice that enraptured Hermione. She found herself viewing him through their eyes. They were so lucky to have someone like Malfoy leading them in the place of someone like Greyback. Only someone who was as smart as her would think of introducing democracy into a werewolf pack.

Hermione was aware that Malfoy had tormented her most of her childhood but other than that Malfoy had never really done anything truly horrible to her. _Yes_ , he had called her names and _yes_ , he had bullied her during their school time together, but they were both children and Hermione knew she would have been bullied just as bad if she had attended a muggle school. It was always people of her nature and personality who were bullied, the ones who couldn't sit quietly in class.

It seemed that Malfoy had grown up a bit, not just physically but mentally too. She didn't trust him, but she suddenly realised that she didn't hate him either. Not the way she hated Voldemort, not the way she hated Bellatrix. Malfoy had never truly harmed her other than not protecting her when she was being tortured, but Hermione knew that would have been suicide. Malfoy was not stupid, he may have felt bad for her in the moment, but he wouldn't lay down his life for someone he's never been friends with either. He was a Slytherin and so survival and knowing which situations where appropriate to act in where a natural trait. She knew how it might sound to others, but given the circumstances, Malfoy could have turned out a lot worse. This didn't mean she forgave him though. He would need to earn that.

Suddenly there was multiple conversations going on at once and Hermione broke out of her daze and her eyes darted around analysing each person she could see to determine what had happened. She looked at Luna who whispered, "He told them what the deal was,". Luna always knew when Hermione had drawn into her own mind. Hermione slowly relaxed her muscles that had sprung into defensive mode.

"Enough," Malfoy's voice boomed over the top of the conversations.

"Beta Garner what are your thoughts?" Draco turned to an old man that was seated to his right. The man had a greying beard and hair and Hermione knew that he must be an elder within the pack. It was tradition according to Luna that an Alpha have two Beta's, one was usually old, and one was usually young to represent generations within the pack, although it wasn't uncommon for this to not always be the case. Luna seemed to think he required the same respect as the Alpha since she was bowing her head towards him slightly in a submissive stance. Hermione decided to do the same.

"Draco this is a rare opportunity. The Order would have you believe otherwise but they desperately need our assistance. What I think is that a trade of wands for our lives in war is not a fair trade at all," there was an uproar on the other side of the fire in response to this. Hermione desperately wanted to turn and see who was on her side, but she resisted. Draco held a hand up to command silence again before turning to his left.

Hermione tried to see who was sitting on Malfoy's left, but the figure had drawn a hood so far over his face that she could only see shadows underneath the hood. Something about the shape of the man, the way he held himself and the shape of his fingers that were woven together by his clasped hands that rested in his lap gave Hermione's mind an itch that she couldn't shake. She _knew_ this man from somewhere. His hands were very slender and thin, almost feminine. The cloak the man wore seemed to hang very loosely from his body, obscuring the shape of his body so much that Hermione could only make out small feet.

She looked sideways at Luna who was staring at the man intensely, her face seemed paler than before. If anyone recognised him it was Luna, she was always drawing people. Her eyes darted to Lavender's face who seemed to smile in anticipation of something. Hermione' heart started to beat rather rapidly. Suddenly she found herself paying rapt attention to every movement from the man.

"And what do you make of this offer, Beta Weasley?" Malfoy's voice echoed in Hermione's ears. _Weasley?_ But all the living Weasley's were at The Order's base. Hermione half expected Ronald to be sitting under the cloak at this point. Her utterly confused thoughts were interrupted by the man pulling his hood backwards from his face and letting it drop to his back. Slowly the face that haunted Hermione's dreams came into harsh clarity. Hermione felt herself stumble back slightly in shock. Hermione hadn't felt emotion like this in a long time. The fire danced off the face, giving it a haunting quality. The moment seemed so surreal that Hermione literally pinched herself discreetly to make sure she wasn't in another nightmare. Her eyes raked over the luscious red hair, the freckled face and finally to the warm brown eyes.

She couldn't speak but she didn't have to, Luna spoke for her.

" _Ginny_?" Luna's usually airy, joyful voice broke pronouncing the name that they had agreed they would never speak again. Ginny's eyes were full of unshed tears and both Hermione and Luna could sense the monumental pain emanating from Ginny's form. Ginny gave them a warm smile and a cheeky wink, despite the emotional turmoil both the visitors and she seemed to be feeling and turned her body to face Malfoy's.

"I don't think the wands are at all such a trivial subject as Garner seems to think," She gave Garner a pointed look to which the older werewolf seemed amused. "Wands are almost impossible to come by these days and there aren't any more wandmakers who haven't either joined Moldywart's side or The Order's side. This will be our one and only chance to get them and imagine what we could do with them. The potions we make for the sick would be finished that much quicker and could be multiplied. We could communicate with other packs and within our own pack without having to shift. We could move our pack more often and more safely than ever before. It might sound initially like an unfair trade but when you think of the possibilities they are endless," Ginny stated with the air of someone who was obviously important within the pack. Hermione was impressed with how Ginny had grown into such a confident leader. She still remembered Ginny's severe anxiety and ridiculously low self-esteem when it had come to Harry Potter. She also suddenly realised where Malfoy got MoldyWart from.

Malfoy quietly received her advice, nodding his head while she spoke with a thoughtful look on his face. "I will have to discuss this further, I think one on one which each of you as I understand you all have strong opinions on this matter. I will give you quarters to reside in tonight and then I will have an answer for you tomorrow." He directed his last words towards Hermione and Luna. They both nodded, and Lavender led them away.

On their way to their new quarters Hermione couldn't help but think about everything that had happened back at the fire. Whose favour would the group sway in. Hermione chanced a look back only to notice that the werewolves who had been seated behind them were young. It seemed to her then that the conclusion she could draw was that the younger werewolves agreed with Ginny's remarks whereas the older werewolves agreed with Garner's remarks based on the outcry towards Garner's remarks that had come from behind her when she was standing in the circle and vice versa. She wasn't sure what to make of Ginny. Her best friend, who everyone thought long since dead was alive. Why hadn't she contacted them. Why hadn't she told them. Didn't she know they grieved for her every day. Didn't she know that no one ever really recovered from it. Suddenly Hermione was angry.

Who did she think she was to do this to them. She had no idea what Hermione had been through. She had abandoned her. _No_ , Hermione thought, she had abandoned them _both_. She checked on Luna to see how she was coping. Luna's expression was one Hermione had never seen before. She looked shattered. Luna looked like her whole spirit was shattered and stabbing her from the inside out. Her pain was clear on her face and Hermione couldn't help but reach her hand out towards her. Luna analysed her offer for a few seconds before slipping her hand into Hermione's. Lavender looked backwards to them as she reached their quarters and came to a stop. She noticed their entwined hands sadly and spared them a small empathetic smile before leaving them. All Hermione could think was the no matter what happened tomorrow, Ginny was going to cop an earful from her.


	5. Bargaining like a Pro

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Draco slipped into their tent around 4 am in the morning to let them know that Garner's opinions had won by a single person and so they had until the afternoon to present him with a new offer or be escorted back to the edge of the forest by Lavender. Hermione didn't make her back up offer right away. She and Luna communicated silently as they had grown apt at doing and decided to see if there wasn't anything else they could identify as being of value to the pack now that they were here and could actually look around. They found the tent was split into two makeshift rooms. One had two single beds and the other had basic facilities such as a small kitchen and a couch with a table in front of it. They got under the covers of the beds which were decidedly comfier than the ones back at the compound. They stared at each other for a few minutes before Hermione offered her hand again and Luna took it before closing her eyes, Hermione followed suit. They slipped into a restless sleep and awoke relatively early at 9am.

Hermione noted that Luna seemed a lot happier than she did last night. Luna bounced around their tiny kitchen, if you could even call it that, Hermione thought to herself, while she made them some tea and hummed a soft tune. "What should our plan be?" Hermione asked while she sat on the couch reading through the notes, they had made beforehand. Luna placed a cup of tea in front of her and took a seat next to her.

"I think we should explore, talk to some of the pack and see if we can identify any needs from them since Draco seems to care so much about what his pack wants," Luna remarked whilst she picked up a paper from their notes to read.

Hermione agreed wholeheartedly with Luna's plan and so they decided to go for a walk and see if they could engage any pack members. Most of the members were young males, some Hermione knew from random memories such as a few students above and below her year at Hogwarts when she attended. There were shop owners from Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley and even ministry worker or two. Somehow Hermione knew this wasn't Draco's doing and that it was Voldemort's. Only Voldemort wouldn't care about who joined the pack as long as it had strength in numbers. However, there were the odd female, though most were older and were chasing children whilst completing household duties such as cleaning clothes and cooking. Hermione saw one woman in particular who intrigued her.

She was on the shorter end of average height for a female and was her body was very curvy but also looked strong. She had long pink hair that had a natural waviness to it. Her eyes were the same brown as Hermione's, chocolate brown. She had slightly tanned skin and although she was gorgeous, she was also formidable as she had a scar that started at the corner of her left lip and went up diagonally above her ear and disappeared into her hair.

She was also obviously in charge in some kind of retrospect. She was sat at a table talking to some older men who seemed to respect her. It was obvious in the way they always maintained a bubble of space around her and the level of concentration they displayed on their faces whenever she spoke.

"Who is that?" Hermione asked, never taking her gaze off of the woman.

"That is Seraphina Vane, she's one of the only women in the pack, the files indicated that the order believes she is some kind of warrior or general within the pack. She's lead's the physical battles whilst the man to her left devises the strategies. Hermione's eye's drifted to the left of her to settle on a man who seemed a bit older than Seraphina. He was more willowy than muscular though he had the height that all male werewolves had. He had sandy blonde hair which looked like it belonged at the beach, and sea green eyes. He had a pencil tucked behind one ear and seemed to be writing furiously onto some paper as Seraphina spoke and would occasionally tap her hand with the pencil, he was writing with to get her to check some things he had written. It was obvious that they worked well together as they seemed to almost have an easy flow back and forth while discussing plans with the others.

"We should speak to them," Hermione spoke whilst already heading in their direction. Luna followed behind her. Hermione halted when she was about a metre from the woman and waited. The men at the table looked at her and Seraphina noticing she had lost their attention followed their gaze to Hermione and fell quiet. "I don't mean to interrupt please finish your conversation and when you are done, I would like to speak to you if that's okay?" Hermione addressed Seraphina.

Seraphina wore an amused expression on her face and went to respond but before she could the man Hermione had viewed before interrupted "She would love to," he spoke quickly. Seraphine rolled her eyes and smirked.

"Yeah whatever then," she spoke nonchalantly and turned around to dismiss the others. As the man went to get up Hermione stuck her arm out to him.

"Hermione Granger, and you are?" she asked politely.

"Oh, I'm Joshua Staghart but you can call me Josh," He spoke to Hermione in a pleasant tone and held quite intimate eye contact with her. After clearing her throat to shake the awkwardness she felt at the intimate eye contact she stated "Nice to meet you then Josh."

She let go of his hand and turned towards Seraphina.

"So you seem to be in a leadership position in this pack, I was wondering if you could take me for a tour around the campsite and explain some things to me because I feel very passionately about werewolves and if all of this is ever over I'd like to try to push legislation to aid werewolves but in order to do that I need to see what your needs are myself," Hermione spoke with a hint of excitement.

Seraphina smirked, "I know what went down last night and I know you're probably just trying to find something we need to offer as a trade but I'll still take ya on that tour don't worry," Joshua sighed at Seraphina's attitude but gave a small knowing smile.

"I'll stay herewith Joshua and maybe learn something from him," Luna spoke dreamily. Hermione turned to see Luna giving even more intense eye action to Joshua than Joshua had given Hermione. Hermione giggled inside her own head. Of course, Luna would fall for this handsome werewolf. She looked back at Seraphina who looked like she was about to burst out laughing at the expression on Joshua face. Hermione rolled her eyes and Seraphina let out a small giggle, "See _you_ guys later," she spoke jokingly and turned to walk. Hermione turned and looked back at Joshua and Luna before leaving just in time to witness what Seraphina had been laughing at, Josh's face was bright red and was looking anywhere but Luna whilst Luna sidled up next to him and spoke softly enough that Hermione couldn't hear her but she was sure it was something outrageous as that was Luna's smile.

She chuckled and turned to quickly follow Seraphina to the edge of the camp.

Seraphine and Hermione strolled slowly through the camp. Seraphina would point out small things like "That's the well where we get our water," or "That's the healers house," and so on. Hermione noticed something and decided to bring it up as Seraphina seemed like an honest person.

"I don't see many children, but I know from the books I read in school that werewolf packs revolve around children and that they're the most sacred group in the pack. How come you have so few?"

Seraphina scoffed "Because Lord snake face wouldn't introduce women into the pack because he viewed them as too weak. The only few he introduced died."

Hermione looked at Seraphina, "Not one single woman he introduced survived?" she asked with fear in her voice. If Voldemort had thought these women strong enough to survive the transformation and they hadn't, what chance in hell did she have?

Seraphina looked at Hermione thoughtfully, "Only one survived," she spoke gravely, and Hermione noticed the serious change in her attitude and decided to stop prying. But she held onto the thought that one had survived.

They came upon some logs near the edge of the camp where Seraphina took a seat and so Hermione following her lead did the same. They were facing a small clearing in which the few children in the camp were playing. They were older children, the youngest Hermione guessed was probably 10 years old. That mean that the last female in the pack that was of childbearing age had been at that stage 10 years ago. That meant Seraphina was the only woman in the pack of childbearing age. Hermione suddenly understood her snarky attitude.

"The truth is Hermione, we have most of what we need now thanks to our Alpha," Seraphina spoke in a resigned voice. Hermione looked at her doubtfully, still thinking about the Draco she had experienced her entire life. She wasn't ready to let go of this idea she had in her head of how Draco was supposed to act just because he'd been some modicum of nice to her and Luna for the past few days. It didn't make up for a lifetime of torment. Seraphina noticed Hermione sinking into her own thoughts and spoke again. "I know our Alpha wasn't always the person he is today. I know he made mistakes and I know he treated you like crap. But I can't fault him for anything he's done for this pack because it's always been in our best interest. Our Alpha is what we call a true Alpha, as soon at they are turned they know they are destined for the position of Alpha and their entire being revolves around the pack from the moment they are turned. It's not like it is for the rest of us where we turn, and we work out our place in the pack and sometimes some of us move up the hierarchy but that's it. Our Alpha never even had to consider the Hierarchy; it simply did not exist to him.

Hermione pondered Seraphina's words whilst watching the children who were wrestling and laughing with each other. She had read books that mentioned true Alpha's before, but no one had ever been able to explain what made them true Alpha's and there was little on what a true Alpha was. "Honestly the two things this pack could use is wands, which was obviously vetoed at the meeting last night, or…." Seraphine trailed off and shifted uncomfortably.

"What?" Hermione asked eagerly, "What else would the pack consider?" Hermione continued.

Seraphine sighed, "Well the only other thing we need is more females," Seraphina spoke quickly and looked up at the children, her body braced as if Hermione would explode.

Hermione sighed dejectedly, "I worried that would be the only other option,".

Seraphina looked at Hermione sharply, "You don't mean you're actually considering it?" she blurted out loudly. All the children stopped playing and looked curiously over at Hermione and Seraphina. "You have a life, family, friends and you're going to give it up for the order's agenda?" Seraphina asked angrily.

Hermione's own temper spiked quite suddenly. "I would give anything to not have to do this," She spoke quietly but angrily, gesturing towards the children. Seraphina took her cue and calmed herself visibly. "But do not mistake me as some mindless soldier who is doing this for the _order's_ agenda. I am doing this because the fate if the world rests on whether you join the order. I won't have a family or friends to go back to if I can't get your numbers on our side. Whilst your pack sits by idly and exists without interruption, my friends and family come home from each mission practically bleeding to death and it's my jobs to either fi them up or notify everyone that I couldn't save them and that yet another one died this week. You have no idea what that's like." Hermione spoke passionately, her magic exhibiting itself slightly with the way the air had grown much windier and colder.

Unlike most who backed down immediately and apologised when Hermione got into the state she was in, Seraphina looked her in her eye and gave her a stern nod to indicate she had been understood. Hermione's respect for the woman grew a lot from the reaction. "Well we better get back so you can present your looney idea to the Alpha, Seraphina joked whilst knocking Hermione's arms with her own. Hermione smiled and they both got up and made their way back to Hermione and Luna's tent.

Luna was waiting for them with a rather embarrassed and flustered Joshua at her side. Hermione and Seraphina approached them and Seraphina looked at Joshua inquisitively with one eyebrow raised and he cleared his throat rather awkwardly, " Well it has been a pleasure spending time with you Luna, I must go with Seraphina to organise more plans so I hope your talk with the Alpha goes well," He smiled tentatively at Luna who gave him a very sultry smile back and which Joshua's face went even redder. Then he and Seraphina left them.

"Jesus Luna you almost killed the man," Hermione got out through bursts if laughter. Luna started laughing hysterically herself.

"It was hilarious and quite fun," Luna spoke whilst wiping tears of laughter form her eyes.

They went inside packed their things up just in case and made their way to Draco's tent. They hesitated outside before joining hands and walking straight in.

Draco was sitting at his desk again but there was Garner and Ginny present as well. Luna and Hermione physically turned from Ginny and instead directed their bodies and eye contact towards Draco.

"Have you come to present another offer?" Draco asked them.

"Yes, we have," Hermione spoke commandingly, straightening her back and trying to give off an air of authority.

Garner looking bored decided to interrupt, " Look if I may, nothing you have to offer is really going to be valuable enough to sway our minds on this, the safety of the pack must come first," Garner spoke quickly and with genuine politeness to Hermione and Luna.

Hermione saw Luna smirk out of the corner of her eye. Nothing pleased Luna more than being underestimated. Luna had become more cunning since the war and Hermione even wondered sometimes whether she would fit int Slytherin more readily than Ravenclaw sometimes.

"Oh really? So, we shouldn't offer to give you women to largen your pack then?" Luna asked with a hint of sarcasm.

Draco and Garner took on shocked expressions and stared at Luna as if she had just spit a frog out of her mouth. Ginny however looked less surprised and more exasperated. "If you knew them like I did then you would've known they were smart and daring enough to offer this," Ginny stated, the exasperation coming through in her voice. Draco looked at Garner and they seemed to calm down a bit from the initial shock and seemed to have an exchange solely through eye contact, not unlike Hermione and Luna did.

"Just to be clear, which women in particular would you be offering?" Draco asked hesitantly. Hermione could tell he didn't want to get his hopes up, but he had to make sure they would actually survive the change.

Hermione looked at Luna for final confirmation and Luna nodded with a very serious face, "Well for starters Parvati Patil, Angelina Johnson and Astoria Greengrass though more may volunteer if asked," Hermione stated with a feeling of guilt in her gut.

Draco looked at Garner again and they shared another silent communication before Draco turned back to Hermione, "If you can provide me with a list of names I will consider your proposal," Draco spoke with an edge to his voice, if Hermione didn't know better she would identify it as longing. Hermione and Luna nodded and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Hermione?" Draco spoke again. Hermione turned to him with an eyebrow raised.

"There's one thins I want if my pack joins the order."

"And that is?" Hermione asked quizzically.

"You," Draco spoke again with that gravelly tone that Hermione definitely identified as belonging.

Hermione shivered and turned back around and walked out rather quickly with Luna fighting to keep up. "Why didn't you just tell them that we were going to join?" Luna asked, obviously confused at Hermione's actions.

"Because I know Draco," Hermione replied, "As I told Kingsley I know him better than anyone else, and I knew he would want me to join because he loves to compete with me and how can we compete when we are on such different levels. Of course, Draco would want to drag me down to his level. So, I knew I had to have it off the table to begin with so that when I do accept his terms, he feels like he's accomplished something or gained something out of the deal," Hermione finished as they came to their tent flap. Luna looked at her in admiration.

"God, I love how smart you are, you would have excelled in Ravenclaw," Luna spoke in her dreamy voice. "I know," Hermione responded with a wink before they ducked inside.


	6. The Change

**Another chapter to apologise for the inconsistencies. Your reviews mean everything guys they make me so happy. Thankyou so much for being so positive :)**

Hermione and Luna sent another Patronus to Kingsley explaining the situation to him and asking him to put out a call for volunteers. To say he was displeased was an understatement but he succumbed to their wishes and within an hour they had a list of names. Hermione read them out to Luna to confirm they had everyone written down.

"Hermione Granger, Luna Lovegood, Angelina Johnson, Paravati Patil, Astoria Greengrass, Tonks, Penelope Clearwater, Fleur Delacour and Gabrielle Delacour." Hermione cringed at the name of the young girl. Luna nodded to indicate that was all the females.

"And then if Draco will consider it, George Weasely and Theo Nott because their partners have indicated they will turn," Hermione spoke with trepidation. She felt bad for these men as George was dating Angelina and Theo was dating Astoria and so they didn't want their partners mating with other werewolves to the point where they had volunteered themselves as well.

"Alright I guess we should go let them know then," Hermione stated. Luna agreed and so they headed back to the main tent.

"Ah, do you have the list?" Draco asked politely.

Garner looked on in interest whereas Ginny looked like she wished she could be anywhere other than the place where she was going to hear which of her friends would dedicate their lives to this pack. 'Yes, we do, I'll hand it up to you." Hermione stated, trying to muster her air of authority once again. She walked up to the desk ad placed the letter down in front of Malfoy. His hand brushed hers as he went to grab the paper and she witnessed Draco visibly shiver. His jaw locked hard and he pulled away from her.

Hermione was confused at the strangeness of his actions but didn't question him. She took a step back and waited. Draco smirked at the first name on the list but did not comment on it. His eyes slowly made their way down the page and then he looked at Ginny. "As a woman who survived the change could you have a look and tell me who you think wouldn't be strong enough for the change," Draco asked her softly, obviously sensing her distress.

Ginny sighed but nodded. "Yes Alpha, she replied. Accepting the paper from him and reading. Her face was pulled into a grimace as she read. "Penelope Clearwater wont survive the change. She's too soft," She spoke through gritted teeth. Hermione looked at Luna in panic hoping there weren't to many more that Ginny would deem unfit. "And Gabrielle Delacour is too young for the change but she would survive it when she comes of age," She commented, "That's all," she finished, placing the paper back down in front of Draco.

"Um, I know it's a lot to ask of you Alpha but would consider adding two males to your pack?" Luna asked with her head bowed in a submissive stance. Draco considered her for a second before answering.

"There are men who want to join even though they don't want to?" he asked curiously.

"The two men I'm referring to have had their partners volunteer and want to turn with their partners," Luna explained. A look of sadness crossed Draco's face at Luna's words before it disappeared and his stoic expression returned.

"Of course, they can join, I see no problem with that given the amount of females you have offered here. We would also like to request wands so that we can serve the order to our fullest capabilities," He stated casually. Hermione knew that Draco was aware that because they were part of the Order now, the Order would do anything to aid them in their battles.

"Of course," Hermione answered.

"Go tell Kingsley and tell him to bring the women and the two men tonight if possible, it will be a full moon tonight which means the transformation will be the easiest, fastest and least painful tonight,' Draco spoke with a finality in his voice. Hermione nodded and she left with Luna to go inform Kingsley.

They were terrified. Hermione knew it was going to be painful and testing and that she may not even make it, but she knew they had no choice. Luna, the others who had volunteered and herself were waiting in a tent just big enough to accommodate them all and Hermione could sense the fear throughout the room. It was quiet but everyone was sitting huddled up with others, murmuring words of reassurance in each other's ears. Ginny entered the tent suddenly and her eyes instantly found George's. George's eyes became watery, but he stayed put and grit his teeth while he maintained eye contact with her.

Ginny ripped her eyes from George and found Hermione. "We are ready for you," she stated with a grimace. Hermione nodded at the others and everyone who hadn't been standing rose to their feet and followed her and Ginny. They arrived at a small stone building. Inside are cell like rooms. We have to cage each of you in one because you will be uncontrollable on your night of change. The change for the boys will be fairly quick and we will be able to release them by tomorrow night. The women will take three days at least. If you take longer than three days, then there's a chance you won't make it and, in that case, we usually wait and extra day or two before killing you to hasten the death.

Hermione kept her face stoic, as sis Luna who already knew this based on the werewolf lore she had read. The other females looked horrified. Hermione turned to them. "You were all picked because you were the best of the best. You all have what it takes to withstand the change. Do not give in, the minute you do you will lose the battle. You have to fight to stay here and not cross into the afterlife, do you understand?" Hermione spoke in her usual commanding tone that calmed most of them as they were used to her giving the orders on missions and such.

Hermione turned back to Ginny and nodded, she followed her into the building which after you went through the flap that served as the door, was just a hallway with stone cells on either side of the hallway. Hermione walked straight into the first one and everyone followed her example and walked into a cell. Ginny said she would begin the biting in 10 minutes. She left, no doubt to update Draco before beginning. The cells each had 3 stone walls and one wall that was metal bars so as to communicate with others. Hermione was directly across from Luna and in the cell next to her was George and the cell next to Luna was Angelina. That was as far as Hermione could see. Ginny returned with Draco who stood just inside the entrance whilst Ginny walked down to the end cell.

Without warning Ginny began. There were no screams as Hermione had anticipated. Just a loud "OW!" followed by panting and groaning.

"The initial bite leaves you feeling drowsy and you usually fall unconscious pretty quickly," Draco explained, approaching her cell slowly.

Hermione watched as he entered her cell, she backed up against the back wall and he followed until a person wouldn't have been able to fit in between them. "Have you forgotten about a little thing called personal space?" asked Hermione. She tried to act confident but really, she was feeling very nervous about the lack of space he was giving her.

"I'm going to bite you," He explained casually, with a smirk.

"Wh-what? But Ginny-"Hermione stuttered.

"Ginny's biting the others, but I wanted to bite you," He spoke slowly, staring into her eyes with his storm grey ones.

She couldn't understand why he wanted to bite her. Was it because his bite would make her a different werewolf to Ginny's bite? Was he trying to make her some kind of leader? Was he trying to make her weaker somehow? "I thought that the werewolf who bit you didn't matter, that it was all the same result anyway?" She breathed airily, distracted by his proximity.

"Well then this shouldn't be a problem," he spoke with another one of his trademark smirks. It was kind of sexy, did Hermione think it was sexy? No, it should be irritating. Was it just his body that was intoxicating or his proximity? Hermione's head was spinning. "Unless your afraid?" Draco teased.

Hermione snapped back into reality. Her Gryffindor spirit rose out of her before she could reign it in. "I'm not scared of you, go on then do it," she spoke venously. Draco grinned and placed a hand on her shoulder and another on her neck. He leaned in and when his nose was a centimetre from her neck he inhaled deeply. Hermione shivered and closed her eyes. His lips found her neck and she felt a jolt of lightening down her back from the contact.

Then he bit her. She flinched slightly but otherwise didn't react. He licked the spot he bit, and she felt her skin start to heal and then she stumbled. Draco caught her and placed her down on the small bed that was in each cell. Then everything went black.

Hermione woke in a fever in the dead of night. She could hear all the moans of pain around her, echoing within the stone walls. She turned her head to see Luna curled upon her side on her bed panting. Hermione dragged herself off of the bed and crawled over to the bars. "Luna," she croaked through dry lips, Luna popped her head up and saw her. She maneuvered herself similar to Hermione until she too was at her bars.

"Hermione are you okay?" Luna whispered.

"I think so, I feel like I'm on fire and I'm struggling to stay conscious, everything's kind of coming in and out of focus for me," she whispered back.

"Good, that's what supposed to happen, I went through that about an hour ago, now I'm just in pain, like needles sticking into me all over my body," Luna responded. Hermione didn't' think she was exaggerating. Luna had been tortured before and withstood it like no one she had ever met. Luna had a very high pain tolerance which explained why she was merely panting instead of moaning or screaming.

"I went through that an hour ago, Now I just keep getting random sharp pains in random areas, they come and go," George spoke from Hermione's right. Hermione tried to see into Angelina's cell, but it was dark and she couldn't see her.

Hermione fought to stay conscious, but she couldn't manage it. She slowly slid to the floor and everything went black again.

Hermione woke in a daze, at least she thought she was awake. Flashes of the ceiling of the cell became visible between flashes of red. She was panting, she could feel he sweat all over her body. She groaned, another flash, this time of blood. She could hear whimpering coming from her cell next to hers. Who was that she thought absently. She couldn't remember where she was. All she could think about was the flashes, and the pain. Her body felt like there were knives needling their way into her skin all over her body. She could hear screams from somewhere in the block of cells. The screams were so oud, louder than normal, overwhelmingly loud. Hermione covered her ears with her hands and her eyes pricked at the pain from her body and the pain her ears were experiencing from the screaming.

"Shut up!" she screamed in a strangles voice. "Please," she whispered. Another flash of blood trickling in between tiles on a floor. "No," she whispered, "God no."

Another flash of broken bodies laying on the ground. She gritted her teeth her mouth watered, and the reaction made her feel sick. Another flash, Ginny's body, lying on her side at the bottom of the stairs, broken with her hair covering her face, there was just so much blood. Hermione hurled herself off the bed sideways and lunged for the bucket before spewing whatever food she had in her system into the bucket. For a second her head cleared, and she could hear others crying, begging, screaming, moaning and vomiting.

Where am I? she thought before feeling violent shakes take over her body. She curled up on the floor and tried to bear the pain and the shakes, sometimes letting out a small whimper or two. She didn't know when but at some point, she blacked out again because now Hermione awoke in the same cell but there were leather bands around her arms and legs that were connected to the bed by a small chain.

"Wh-What?" she stuttered, still not completely conscious.

"It's for your own safety," a voice from her side came through the bars. She could sense it was a pained voice. She turned to see George. "Me and Theo finished our transformation about 4 hours ago. This part is the hardest and the longest. You will likely experience this part until tomorrow night," he looked at her with real tangible pain in his eyes. His eyes kept darting to the cell diagonal from hers but then came back to Hermione's.

She remembered somehow that she had chosen to do this to herself. "What… happens.. now?" She managed to croak out.

He looked at the ground of her cell for a minute before sighing and returning his gaze to her. "The delusions. Most hurt themselves which is why you're strapped down. It's a bit like the Cruciatus curse but without the physical pain. Instead you will relive the worst moments of your life and play out your darkest thoughts. Just remember Hermione, they're not real. Don't give in." He chocked out the last bit through gritted teeth. George was obviously getting really emotional. Hermione's eyes rolled around lazily, she could barely keep focus on anything.

"Please Hermione, I lost my family. You're all I got left." He whispered before everything went black again.

Hermione screamed for what felt like the 500th time. Her throat was so sore but never ceased to make sound. There she was again, Bellatrix sitting atop her, carving into her flesh, cackling manically. She tried to hold onto consciousness but again she slipped away. She woke up on the grounds of Hogwarts. She was lying in a random hallway on the third floor. She picked herself up and suddenly noticed the bodies that laid here and there. All broken and mangled. Friends, strangers, house elves, teachers, the list went on and on.

"No, no, no, not this, not again," she moaned quietly. As soon as one nightmare faded, another began. Sometimes the same one's, sometimes different ones. She walked down the hallway, averting her gaze from the bodies and rounded a corner. She relaxed as the next hallway was empty. She still walked cautiously, having learnt from the war to never relax until you were certain you were out of harms way. She heard a voice, a woman's voice. She couldn't identify it as it sounded broken and strangled, this woman was crying, she was begging and pleading from what Hermione could make out of her sobs. She quickened her pace and rounded the corner to see the silhouette of a man in black robes standing over a small frightened girl who had curled in on her self and was backed into a corner on the floor. She was covered in dirt. Hermione grit her teeth and raised her wand at the man.

"Hey, leave her alone," her voice boomed into the empty corridors. The man slowly turned ad as he did his face slowly morphed into that of Fenrir Greyback. Hermione felt the shock sine through on her face, she stumbled back half a step, her hand shook but she held her stance, jutting her chin out in defiance.

"Hermione?" the girl asked in the voice of someone choking back tears but who was also hopeful.

Hermione looked at the girl closer, "Luna?" she asked incredibly. It was the Luna she went to school with. She had smudged of blood all over and Hermione felt her self get very sick. She looked back at Fenrir only to see his face morph into a sickening grin before his hand that had been behind his back shot a silent killing curse at Luna. Her body fell slack like that of a puppet who'd had it's strings cut.

"No!" Hermione yelled in a strangled voice. Her wand never wavered from Fenrir even as he swung his wand up to point at her. They slowly starting circling, locked in some kind of deathly dance.

"You think you can make it as a werewolf? _You_. You want to be part of my pack? You will be broken. You will not be able to do anything for them. You think you can help them? You can't even help your friend," Fenrir spat as he kicked Luna's foot for emphasis.

Hermione swallowed her feelings as she was apt at doing these days and her usually stoic expression came back to her. Fenrir's grin faltered as he saw the change. "You think I'm going to be scared of you because you killed a defenseless little girl?" She spat at him, the disgust clear in her voice. "I have done things you can only imagine of doing. I know I will survive the change. Do you want to know why?" she asked him in a condescending tone.

His jaw twitched in anger. "Pray, tell me how you, one little pathetic witch, will survive one of the most painful transformations of all time?" he asked.

"Because," Hermione paused, " She stopped circling and he did too. Cocking his head to the side, a smirk on his face, listening for her answer. "I've been through worse," Hermione growled in a low, menacing voice. She dropped her wand.

Fenrir stumbled back in confusion, he froze as he saw her scream out a guttural roar and lunge at him with her already changing hands, transforming into claws.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form


	7. Freak

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Hermione woke with a start. She could feel the sweat soaked sheets beneath her and the heat radiating from her skin. She opened her eyes and witnessed a blinding light before shutting them. Pain shot through her skull from the sensory overload. She slowly tried to open them again and her eyes started to adjust to the light. She was staring at the ceiling of a tent. The ceiling was a majestic shade of deep green and the fabric was draped in a way that seemed quite regal and royal, sort of like the ceiling of the yule ball she attended when she was in school.

She sat up, still disorientated from what felt like very deep sleep. She was in an unfamiliar place. As her eyes roved around the room, she noticed deep mahogany furniture and neatly stacked books and papers. It felt like a place of importance. She realised she was lying on a very large bed atop silk black sheets. _Where the hell am I?_ She felt panic start to settle in her lower belly, her stomach churning with anxiety. She had experienced a lot during the war, waking up in an unfamiliar place with no recollection of how you got there was a decidedly bad thing.

She slowly became aware of how different she felt. She hadn't felt this rested in a long time. She felt a weight on her head that she hadn't felt in a while and reached a hand up to find very long glossy curls that cascaded down her back. Her hair wasn't shaved anymore as it had been when Luna cut it. She was very confused now. She spread her hands in front of her, the dream of Fenrir Greyback coming back to her. Not only were they not claws as she half expected them to be, but her fingernails looked healthy and long, not like the short bitten down stubs she had had before. Before… _before what_? She pondered.

She inspected the rest of her body and discovered she was wearing a white singlet and army green cargo pants. She lifted her singlet to find that she couldn't count her ribs anymore. _What the hell?_ She slowly stood and made her way to an antique mirror hanging on the wall near the entry flap to the tent. Her face looked the same other than her eyes. She moved her face closer to the mirror and tilted it in different ways to view her eyes from different angles and found that it was not a trick of the light. There was a golden ring between her pupil and her regular chocolate brown eyes.

She looked back at the bed, lost as to what was going on and spied a glass of water on the bedside table. She was suddenly aware of how thirsty she was, her throat as dry as a desert, and practically ran to the cup and drank the water like she would never see any more again.

She stood there, empty cup in hand, becoming lost in thought when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching the tent. She instantly fell into a defensive position, realising for the first time that she didn't have her wand. Panic shot through her before she prepared to jump her attacker. The figure reached the flap and as they pulled the flap aside and stepped into the tent. Hermione growled before jumping at the figure, noticing as she did that it was a man. She caught a glimpse of his blonde hair before he reacted quicker than her, catching her arms in his hands and whirling her around, pressing her back into his chest as her feet had come up to kick him.

They stood like this for a moment, Hermione growling deep in her chest. Somewhere in the back of her mind she registered that she was growling like an animal and that it wasn't typical of her but at that present moment, the forefront of her mind just repeated that she was in danger and that she had to protect her territory. However, she could not move a muscle other than her legs which wouldn't do her any good, the man had her in an ironclad grip, her arms crossing over her chest.

She felt and heard the man's deep chuckle and felt anger rise through her. He was laughing at her and that made her blood boil. "Calm down Hermione, it's just me," the man spoke into her ear, his breath making her shiver. His scent seemed familiar and so did his voice. She calmed her body enough to try and distinguish who the man was. She took a deep inhale through her nose, almost instinctively to get his scent again. For some reason she knew her sense of smell was her strongest sense at the moment. He smelled like the forest, like freshly dug earth and plants. There was also a hint of honey that for some reason made her feel warm and intrigued. She liked the smell of the man very much. He started to loosen his grip on her and turn her around.

She braced herself only to come face with Draco Malfoy. All the memories of the camp and the change came flooding back to her. She relaxed considerably, taking in his grey eyes that, although close to the colour of a storm, were quite grounding. He was wearing a navy-blue button up shirt and brown cargo style, fairly fitted pants. He then wore black combat boots. She could tell this was supposed to be a practical look but unlike her usual attire it still bore an upscale feel, the typical Malfoy luxury still came through in the quality of his clothes which kind of calmed her as it was a point of familiarity for her. How grimy he must think she looks, she thought before laughing at herself for thinking he would even care let alone take notice of the way she looked.

She realised then that they were staring quite intimately into each other's eyes, their faces a bit close for comfort. She took a step back and he let her, his arms falling to his sides. She saw a look of disappointment flicker across his face before it was replaced with his signature smirk. "I take it you like my room then?" he asked in a teasing tone.

She looked quickly around the room again. The furniture and the royal style of the room making sense to her now. "A bit posh for me," She responded in slightly raspy voice, her throat sore from disuse. She crossed her arms across her chest, and he raised an eyebrow at her in a joking manner.

"How long was I out?" She asked, feigning disinterest in her voice.

"7 days," he responded, avoiding eye contact.

"7 days!?" She repeated, shocked. "I thought Ginny said that you usually kill people who take longer than 3 days?" she asked in a confused tone.

"She just said that to reassure you guys that you wouldn't be in pain for long. We knew you out of all the others in the group would make it, so we decided to wait the extra days," He answered nonchalantly.

"Why am I here and not in the cell block?" she asked, still confused about the whole ordeal.

"I…. wanted to keep an eye on you," he answered after a beat of hesitation. She didn't quite believe his answer but didn't have the energy to push it.

"Come meet the others," he said before turning and leaving the tent.

She was a little irked at his expectation that she would just follow his demand but found a small part of herself instantly pushed her to follow him. _This must be what it's like to feel the need to follow the Alpha,_ she thought to herself before sighing and following him.

He led her through the camp, the same way that Seraphina had led her the other day. As she walked, she noticed the other members of the pack stopping their duties to stare at her as she passed. It made her uncomfortable for a reason she couldn't pinpoint. It wasn't as if she wasn't used to stares, even back at the Order's compound people stared at her when she passed, but for some reason this was different. Somehow, she knew that they knew something she didn't.

They came to the clearing where the children had been playing when she had sat with Seraphina. Instead of children, the others who had volunteered for the change were sitting on the grass. Some were sitting up, some laying down with their eyes closed, letting the sun soak their skin. Luna and Tonks were sitting together pulling grass out of the ground, having a seemingly serious conversation. Luna's hair was back to it's long luscious locks before Hermione had cut it, she had also looked more healthy, her skin had a healthy pink flush to it. Tonks also sported longer hair as well, _was this some kind of Werewolf growth hormonal thing?_ Hermione wondered randomly. Tonks old scars she had like the long one that used to trail down her right arm from a time she had accidently been close to Lupin during a change had disappeared. Hermione had heard of Werewolves incredible healing genetics since many wizards had tried to harness this quality over the centuries.

George was sitting up near them as well and seemed to just be listening to them whilst he played with Angelina's hair as she was laying in the grass with her head in his lap. Fred also had longer, shoulder length hair which seemed to be pulled back into a ponytail similar to the one his older brother used to sport. Hermione's heart ached a little at the reminder. Fred's family had faced the worst causalities throughout the war. He lost his mother only 3 months ago and his two older brothers had gone missing a year ago now. Fred had died in battle and Ginny had been thought dead from the Hogwarts invasion. It had really just been George, Arthur and Ron left, none of whom seemed to be getting along either. They were all still grieving and so seeing each other made it hard because they wee reminded of things they'd rather forget.

And so Hermione had become George's family after Ron had been a right git about her not wanting to date him. Harry had approved of her taking space from Ron. He'd told her that although he was close to Ron, he was really not the right bloke from Hermione and that she deserved someone less hot tempered. He has also been grateful that Hermione had taken up caring for George because Harry trusted Hermione like he trusted no one else and so George became one less person for him to have to worry about.

Angelina also looked well. Happier and more relaxed that Hermione had see her in a long time. Her hair which had already been quite long, now looked healthy and thick. The changes everyone had endured had been quite small, but to each other they were so noticeable, like neon signs. This was because they had all been so malnourished and dirty thanks to the way the Order was forced to live to avoid detection. Despite the whole ordeal, its warmed Hermione's heart to at least see these people looking healthier, even if the cause was not ideal.

Luna saw her first and a grin broke out across her face. The other's turned to see what she was looking at and smiled when they spotted Hermione as well.

"You're okay?" Luna asked as Hermione lent to sit cross-legged on the ground next to her. She looked up at Draco who nodded at her to stay seated as he made his way around the group.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered a bit clueless as to how she actually felt. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that she was indeed a werewolf now. She didn't fell any different and she wasn't sure what she had even expected in the first place.

As if reading her mind Luna leaned in towards her to speak. "We survived the change in terms of physically but in terms of mentally, the shift of when the wolf makes its presence apparent in your mind comes on your first full moon," she explained in a low voice. Hermione remembered Luna mentioning something similar when they had talked about the possibility of changing on the way to the mission initially. She wasn't sure if the idea of this 'wolf' scared her or not. Part of her reasoned that there was no point in worrying about it now, it's not like there was any going back. But the logical part of Hermione screamed that ' _SHE WAS A_ _WEREWOLF_ 'and was allowed to freak out if she needed to as it was a life changing event and that she was right to be scared of the idea of a wild animal taking up residence inside her brain.

She just nodded in response to Luna's explanation and directed her eyes up to the front of the group where Draco had joined an expectant Ginny standing with her arms crossed. They were too far away for her to make out what they were saying to each other, but Ginny nodded and they both turned towards the group to address them. Ginny stared straight at Hermione and she could have sworn Ginny almost looked relived and apprehensive at the same time.

"Congratulations on you all surviving the change," Draco began. Hermione felt the small voice inside of her demanding that she not just listen, but give her undivided attention to her Alpha. It was a small enough part that if she wanted to, she could have ignored it and so she merely turned her head slightly to hear him better. But she watched all the others turn their rapt attention to Draco instantly like they couldn't control it. She wondered if the urge to respect the Alpha was greater in some people. She pondered whether it had to do with status. Maybe some of them were already made to be higher in the hierarchy and so the pull lessened?

"It was expected you all would have survived as we did review the list Granger presented to us and only approved those, we thought would be able to withstand the process. The only person here who was not turned was Gabrielle Delacour but as she has been made aware, she is too young and will be turned at a later date. Now the Full Moon is tomorrow which means you will all experience your first change and the introduction of your wolf self so we have some things to instruct you on so that you can be as prepared as possible when the time comes," Draco spoke in a deep, confident and authorative tone and Hermione could see how this man had become the Alpha with his commanding presence. She bristled a bit at the fact that he called her Granger in front of others. Did he not want to acknowledge they were on a first name basis? She reminded herself that she didn't truly care anyway and turned to Luna instead.

"The Full Moon is tomorrow?" she hissed quietly to Luna who kept her eyes on Draco but nodded at her question. Before Draco could continue Luna had raised her hand.

Draco raised an eyebrow before responding, "Uh, yes Luna?" he asked in an apprehensive voice, obviously worried about how eccentric her question would be. Hermione laughed on the inside about how unsure Draco seemed to be when it came to Luna.

"You referred to your 'wolf self' and I was just wondering if you could elaborate on that part. I thought the wolf was a separate entity or a cohabitator of your mind, but you referenced it as though it is a side or part of yourself," Luna asked questioningly.

Draco smiled at Luna as if he had been waiting for her question. "Yes, many people mistake the wolf as being a separate entity or being that invades your brain and sets up camp but that's a misconception. The wolf is you. It's always been inside of you and its really just manifestation of your primal urges, your biological needs and wants and your basic survival needs. Because it is animalistic in nature and speaks to the nature of humans being at their core, animals, people labelled it the wolf self to differentiate it from the rational or logical way of thinking that you were probably raised with. Your wolf self operates on what it believes you need whereas your human self usually rationalises these thoughts and rules out what you absolutely don't need due to your moral. Your wolf self is unable to do this at the beginning to people became afraid of the things they did as their wolf self and grew hatred for that part of your life. But if you embrace it, you can merge both of your selves together and gain a modicum of control of your wolf self, kind of like wolfsbane potion except it's natural, permanent and not easy at all to do," Draco explained like the perfect teacher Hermione never had.

She could see Luna was drinking in the information the same way she was. Although both of them had been studious in Hogwarts and had taken notes as any normal student had, they truly hadn't needed to, information just seeped into their brain and never left because they were always so thirsty for knowledge.

After Draco confirmed no one else has questions, him and Ginny began to explain important parts of the change such as the pain, the fact that they would be aware in their brains after they had changed but that they would be experiencing their wolf selves. That they would remember everything from the change after the night was over. They informed George that no, they wouldn't die if someone shot them with a silver bullet and everyone stifled giggles. They covered important before and after care to minimise pain and the wards they had set up so that the wolves wouldn't wander into territory of other magical creatures that resided in the forest or wander into Hogwarts. They also informed the group that there was a high chance that they would hunt or eat a wild animal whilst changed, and that yes its gross but it was just the way of life for them now, and that they would in fact change completely into wolves and not some hybrid of man and wolf that you saw in movies and read about in fantasy books. Most of them knew this information from textbooks and common knowledge but it still felt reassuring hearing this information confirmed from a reliable source.

They were dismissed after this conversation and Hermione and Luna headed to their tent where Hermione spied that several more tents had been erected for the newcomers. "So, what was it like?" was the first thing Luna asked Hermione as soon as they got into their room.

"What was what like?" she asked confused.

"Draco's room," Luna laughed, waggling her eyes suggestively.

Hermione rolled her eyes but smiled, "It was very… Malfoy. A lot of green," she mused jokingly.

Luna giggled at that, "Of course, don't know what I was expecting," she joked back. Luna filled her in on what had happened with the others and how out of the entire group Angelina had struggled a lot with the change but still obviously made it. Hermione was honestly over the moon that everyone had survived. She had known there was a high chance of this as reliable people had viewed the list and she trusted them, but still she had had her concerns.

They lied down on their beds but continued to talk late into the night about the weird things they had experienced like their heightened senses and random urges. Luna talked more than Hermione as she had obviously had longer to adjust.

"Do you get strong urges to obey Draco or is it more of a suggestive thought?" Hermione asked Luna after talking for hours.

Luna pondered the question for a minute before replying. "I get a pretty decent urge to obey but I feel like I could also disrespect him if I wanted to as well. Like the urge is pretty strong but I feel like if I really wanted to, I could fight it. Some of the others have experienced varying degrees of the feeling though. Some feel the complete compulsion to obey," she elaborated for Hermione.

"Okay, I was just wondering that's all. Do you think the variation between the strength of the compulsion to obey stems from the hierarchy and our place in it?" Hermione asked curiously.

Luna answered immediately "I know for a fact it's because of that. Those who feel less compulsion are often much higher in the hierarchy and therefore need to retain their unique problem-solving skills. I'm not sure but I feel that I may be a Beta," Luna admitted quietly.

Hermione mulled over Luna's words. It sounded to her that Luna felt he compulsion a bit more than she did. For her it was more of an after thought or a little voice suggesting she obey at the back of her mind, but not a demanding voice. She wondered what the hell that meant. She also mulled over the fact that maybe Luna was just explaining it badly and they were feeling the same, thought she had never known Luna to explain anything badly, she just didn't want to be a freak, again.

"Is there a level between Beta and Alpha?" Hermione asked stumped.

Luna scrunched her face up in thought. "I don't think I've ever heard of one. I mean the closest thing to what you're asking would probably be like an Alpha's mate but that's about it," Luna spoke slowly, clearly unsure of the validity of her information. Hermione scoffed at the thought and decided she was most likely meant to be a Beta or something. There was no way she was Draco's mate. A werewolf's mate was for life, it was literally their soul mate and werewolf's were possessive over their mates, something Hermione never had and never would see from Draco Malfoy because he was definitely not her mate.

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